Drunk On Power

By Rhian Gibson

Ciaran Brogan; what the hell are you playing at? Or should I say “Who the fuck do you think you are?” which is what you told Gardaí the night of June 22nd in Letterkenny, Donegal. You’re a member of the Fianna Fail party, a county councillor and previous Mayor of Donegal. And now you’re a member of the ‘drunken idiots getting behind the wheel of a car, falling asleep, being verbally abusive to an officer and then crashing into a patrol car’ – party. It’s no wonder you were fined €400 and banned from driving for three years.

It’s not like politicians in this country have a lot going for them when it comes to public trust; “Only 22% of Irish people trust TDs and councillors, a new poll finds.” This was according to an article by the Journal in 2015 and now the public have to learn to trust politicians to not drive over them whilst they’re three times over the legal limit.

Mr. Brogan isn’t the only politician who has broken the law so maybe we should cut him some slack; it’s not like he got arrested and convicted for being a drunken moron; oh shit. But when it comes to politicians and their law-breaking shenanigans; he isn’t the only one. From politicians in Ireland putting up their campaign posters before they are legally allowed to and those found guilty of tax evasion, bribery and accepting finances for private gain; as well as a number of US politicians being arrested for the possession of cocaine; there have been quite a few politicians breaking the law.

Shamed politician Raphael Patrick Burke was convicted in 2004 for making false tax returns and sentenced to six months in prison in 2005; another politician who was under the impression that crime pays better than politics. What is it with politicians and their driving offences? I guess you think I’m finished on the topic of driving-related arrests but I’m not. Christy O’ Sullivan was also arrested for failing a breath test in 2008 and also former Senator James Heffernan from Limerick who was arrested on suspicion of driving whilst drunk. Never drink and drive kids/politicians.

A politician is someone who contributes to the running of a country within a political party and a criminal is someone who breaks the law. But what happens when these two come together? Political mayhem, that’s what! Is there some kind of club that politicians attend to learn the ways of corruption and crime? If there is, I want in. Because what better way to help run a country than from behind bars. (Cambridge dictionary defines sarcasm as “the use of remarks that clearly mean the opposite of what they say”.)